The actuator for distributing engine torque between the front set and the rear set of the vehicle has a tendency to overheat when it is being used to transmit the torque from the engine to the sets and between the sets, and in particular when the distribution of the torque between the sets is varied via the configuration change command from the actuator.
This overheating presents a risk to the integrity of the actuator and of the vehicle as well as to the vehicle usage safety and can cause the operation of the actuator to be degraded.
In this context, the aim of the present invention is to propose a method for managing a device for distributing the engine torque between the front and rear wheel sets of a vehicle that makes it possible on the one hand to estimate the temperature of the actuator while limiting the costs associated with this temperature estimation function and that also makes it possible to minimize the energy consumption linked to this temperature estimation function.